A Grip on Sports: From Paris to Pullman, we cover the wide world of those sports whose future outlook may be a bit dimmer today
A GRIP ON SPORTS • In honor of the predicted demise of Olympic sports throughout the college athletic landscape, we’ve decided to spend this Sunday morning focused on them.
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• Why Olympic sports? Mainly because when judge Claudia Wilken approved the House settlement Friday, their future on the collegiate level seemed to dim. The leeway major schools have to pay out their mandated revenue-sharing funds with athletes seemed designed to bolster football and, to a lesser degree, basketball. The two sports that fund all other sports through national media deals and postseason payouts.
It is obvious schools are going to put most of the money into football. A majority of what’s left over into hoops. And the rest, the volleyball and softball and track and field programs? Good luck.
The settlement, which Wilkins approved after current walk-ons were grandfathered in as part of roster changes, was rightfully hailed as a turning point in college athletics. But, also rightfully, was described as a beginning, not an end, by most commentators (including me).
Lawsuits. Bumpy implementation. A widening gap between the haves and have-nots. And a cloudy future for non-revenue sports.
• Baseball is going to be in the next Summer Olympics, right? That’s a good thing if your name is Cal Raleigh. Winning a World Series might be out the question for the Mariners’ catcher, but an Olympic gold medal might not be.
Considering Raleigh is just reaching his prime at age 28 and may be in the middle of it in 2028, he seems a good bet to be behind the plate for the U.S. squad in Los Angeles.
With two more home runs last night in Anaheim, Raleigh leads all players with 26 – three ahead of Japanese Olympic star Shohei Ohtani – and set another MLB record for his position. Back in 1970, when he was in his heyday, Johnny Bench hit 25 home runs for the Reds before July 1. It is the record for a player whose primary position is catcher.
Raleigh has 24 already while in the defensive lineup (he has two as a designated hitter), the same Bench had that season by before July. The Reds star went on to hit 45 that year, the most-ever for a catcher until the Royals’ Salvador Pérez hit 48 in 2021.
• Coco Gauff and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka had met in a Grand Slam final before Saturday’s French Open. That was in New York, in 2023. And Gauff won.
After, Sabalenka focused on her poor play, not Gauff’s excellent effort in rallying from a first set loss to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Fast forward 21 months and 3,600 miles. Gauff and Sabalenka meet in another Grand Slam final. Red clay this time, not cement. And the result is the same. A 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 win for the American. As is the post-match comments from Sabalenka.
The ultimate “it’s not you, it’s me” crud.
As in: “It was the worst final I have ever played.” Or “She was hitting the ball from the frame. Somehow magically the ball lands in the court. It felt like a joke, honestly, like somebody from above was there laughing, like, ‘let’s see if you can handle this’.” Or “I think she won the match not because she played incredible, just because I made all of those mistakes.” Wow. And the clincher? “I just need (a) couple of days to completely forget about this crazy world and this crazy - if I could swear, I would swear right now - but this crazy thing that happened today. I think everyone understands. I’m just trying to be very polite right now (emphasis mine), but you know, there is no other word, that could describe what just happened today on the court.”
Gauff, to her credit, didn’t lash out when informed of Sabalenka’s comments. She did say one part of them, saying it wasn’t fair, but that was it. Her post-match dissection was more about the conditions, her mental strength and her performance. As they should be.
Sabalenka may be the best player in the world right now, but she certainly isn’t the classiest.
• I watched the Belmont yesterday. Made sure to carve out 10 minutes around the 4 p.m. hour. Saw the Saratoga track looked a bit wet, thought back to the muddy Kentucky Derby and declared, out loud, it was Sovereignty’s day. And it was. Just as it was at Churchill Downs.
Sovereignty earned the title as the best 3-year-old in the world. In 2025. But let’s hope the horse keeps racing. And meets Journalism, the Preakness champ and the runner up to Sovereignty in the other two Triple Crown races, down the road.
Why? Simple. The Derby was run on a sloppy track, something Sovereignty seemed to enjoy and Journalism didn’t. Sovereignty skipped the Preakness, resting a prepping for the Belmont. Journalism banged its way around Pimlico and won. But it seemed to hit a wall at the top of the stretch in New York (it was its third race in five weeks), and a rested Sovereignty pulled away just at it did in Kentucky.
Maybe in a couple months the two will face off on a fast track, both rested and ready. That’s a race I would like to see.
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WSU: Just about every athletic director in America put out a statement Saturday concerning the implementation of the House settlement at their school. Anne McCoy was no different. But her statement, covered in this Greg Woods’ story, also leaves a few questions unanswered, as Greg points out. Let’s hope those are available soon. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his thoughts about the future and they are remarkably similar to mine. … John Canzano builds a Mount Rushmore of Oregon sports figures. … As we said, just about everyone had a comment about the settlement. We pass along stories about those from Washington, Colorado, UCLA, Arizona and Colorado State. … Oregon’s injured receiver says the usual timeline isn’t going to be in play. … How does Utah’s offensive returners stack up in the Big 12? … How was Arizona State’s first year in the conference? … In baseball’s Super Regionals, Oregon State fell to Florida State 3-1 on Saturday, setting up a winner-head-to-Omaha game today. The Beavers feel confident. … So does UCLA, after opening its Super Regional with a comeback win over UTSA in L.A. … Arizona defeated host North Carolina, coming back from a late deficit and setting up a decisive third game today.
Gonzaga: We have another Wilner column in the S-R to pass along, as he believes the Zags are among the nation’s biggest winners the way the settlement is structured. Again, something we agree with, though we have a caveat. If the school can find the money. It doesn’t need to spend $20 million but at least half that would allow it to fulfill Wilner’s prophecy. Is it available? … Oklahoma City needs Chet Holmgren to play beyond his years tonight (5, ABC) as the Thunder try to level their NBA final series with Andrew Nembhard and Indiana at a game apiece.
Preps: Dave Nichols has a great job. At least the high school part of it. Every year is filled with great stories, great people and long hours. He covers all of that for 2025 in this column. … The spring sports All-GSL teams are also available today. We pass them along.
Indians: After three consecutive losses to Northwest League-leading Hillsboro, Spokane needed a win Saturday. As Dave tells us, Aidan Longwell helped lead the offensive barrage that ended in a 15-8 victory at Avista.
UFC: Julianna Peña’s second title defense wasn’t successful either. The Spokane fighter fell to Kayla Harrison in the UFC bantamweight world championship bout Saturday.
Mariners: If it wasn’t for bad luck, the M’s, well, you know the rest. A rope off Randy Arozarena’s bat found a stealing Julio Rodriguez’s leg in the third inning. The butterfly effect? A less-than-stellar defensive effort in another loss, this one 8-6 in Anaheim. It was the M’s fifth consecutive defeat. … Rodriguez is day-to-day. Good thing, as he’s also dealing with the fallout from a recent home break-in.
Sounders: Jordan Morris may still be on the injured list during the Club World Cup. … The participation in the event is a culmination of many years’ work. One that seems a bit off considering the money issues. … The USMNT lost a friendly to Turkey yesterday 2-1. Afterward, new coach Mauricio Pochettino saw the positives in the defeat. And pointed them out.
Storm: Guard Skylar Diggins took over and Seattle topped Phoenix.
Golf: Jim Meehan uses his column today to share the interesting story of former CCS golfer Brady Calkins. Calkins qualified for his second U.S. Open recently and will be at Oakmont this week.
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• Before we bid you adieu today, we wanted to point out a couple local volunteer opportunities this month. Hoopfest needs at least 50 more court monitors and a couple track and field meets are also looking for helpers. Until later …